FATAL HEROIN OVERDOSE RATTLES FAMILY OF HALTOM CITY MAN

Alcohol Impaired Recovering Addict, Sister-in-law Says

As a recovering drug abuser, Robert Hampton seemed to have adjusted his
path from crooked to straight. The 51-year-old plumber was driving a new
truck, taking care of his ailing mother and saving money, relatives said.

Doing heroin seemed like the last thing on his mind.

But, impaired by a night of drinking whiskey-and-Cokes, the Haltom City
resident turned to heroin one last time, said Shirley Hampton, his
sister-in-law. About five hours later, Mrs. Hampton found him dead, slumped
over in a bathroom with a charred spoon, a belt and a syringe at his side,
police said.

Mr. Hampton's Dec. 30 death was the second suspected fatal heroin overdose
in Tarrant County in a week, authorities said. Eric Lee Higgins, 20, of
Bedford, was found dead in his bedroom Dec. 29. Friends and relatives have
said Mr. Higgins had used heroin that night.

Additionally, authorities are awaiting toxicology results to determine
whether a third death - that of Keller resident Bruce Allen Fann, 36, on
Friday - may have been linked to heroin abuse, said Keller police Lt. Tommy
Williams.

Heroin is also considered the cause of a near-fatal overdose Sunday in
Hurst, where a 17-year-old was found at a friend's house in the 1700 block
of Renee Drive in a "crisis state," police said. He was treated at North
Hills Medical Center and later released, Detective Doug Blue said.

It was the second close call for the youth, who was treated at a Bedford
hospital for a heroin overdose in late November, police said.

Detective Kyle Barton, a Haltom City police spokesman, said authorities are
awaiting toxicology results on Mr. Hampton and on residue found on the
spoon, though drug paraphernalia that was found suggests he injected heroin
before dying.

But Mrs. Hampton said her brother-in-law seemed to have abandoned the vice
at least a year ago.

"I think what happened is he had been drinking whiskey. Real stiff drinks,
like one-fourth a cup of soda pop and the rest whiskey and ice," Mrs.
Hampton, 55, said. "If he did [overdose], I think it was an accident. He
was too drunk to know what he was doing. But, of course, he shouldn't have
been doing it anyway."

Family members never suspected that Mr. Hampton still used heroin, they
said, if only because he looked healthy and worked hard. A large man with a
healthy appetite, he was a "caring, forgiving man, a sweet person," Mrs.
Hampton said.

He leaves behind two grown sons, a stepdaughter and four grandchildren, she
said. One of the grandchildren was born the night he died, she said.

"Stay away from heroin. Nothing but harm comes from it," she said.
"Watching this episode take place, it is just so hard on the family. Your
family suffers, not just you."

Mr. Hampton's niece, Cynthia Kellar, said her uncle's death offers lessons
for others thinking of experimenting with heroin.

"To all the kids to who think drugs are a joke, it's just like playing
Russian roulette. You don't ever know if this is the one time the bullet
rolls around," said Ms. Kellar, 26. "No matter what, life is too precious
to waste for a few seconds of pleasure."